KINGSVILLE, Texas – Junior Emily Witt (Rose Hill, Kan.) passed out 37 assists and senior Meghan Merlino (Sacramento, Calif.) logged a double-double for the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's volleyball team in a 25-20, 27-25, 25-18 sweep of the Texas A&M International Dustdevils on Tuesday night in Lone Star Conference action at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
"I thought we did a nice job offensively," said coach Tanya Allen. "I thought we had a few kids step up and take some big swings and we were definitely firing on all cylinders up there. We had a lot of play calls that we wanted to execute and I feel like the girls did a good job of that."
Witt's 37 assists led all players and she also added 10 digs and five kills without an error on 10 swings. Merlino's 13 kills tied for a match-high and her night included 10 scoops as well. Freshman Ayanna Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) matched Merlino's total with 13 kills of her own and junior Nicole Murff (San Antonio, Texas) led the Javs with 18 digs. Junior Kailey Estrada (San Antonio, Texas) fired off nine smashes on 11 attacks without an error for a .727 hit rate and also collected five blocks.
TAMIU scored first in the initial set and gradually built a four-point lead. Trailing 15-11, the Javelinas put together their first run of the match, winning the next seven points during a stretch that included multiple kills from Merlino and Jackson. The Dustdevils responded by taking the next four rallies, but TAMUK outscored them 7-1 after that and closed out the frame on back-to-back aces from Murff.
The home team found itself trailing again in the next stanza and this time the visitors used a 9-3 run to build an 18-13 advantage. The Javelinas battled back to tie the score three times but TAMIU put itself at set point twice, the second time at 25-24 following a Blue and Gold attack error. Three different Javs then came up with kills to flip the set. The first one came from Jackson, then from Witt before a rocket off the arm of Merlino found the floor for a 2-0 lead.
The Javelinas never trailed in the third set, leading by as many as seven, but they did have to withstand a Dustdevil comeback attempt that sliced that seven-point edge down to two at 20-18, forcing a TAMUK timeout. Out of the break, the Javs reeled off five-in-a-row, two of which came on kills from Jackson, including the one that clinched the match.
The Javelinas and Dustdevils won't have to wait long to see each other again. They'll take the court back at the SPEC on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Keep up with Javelina volleyball all season long by following @Javelina_VB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaVB and @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking TAMUK Volleyball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
